First kelp harvest hits the plates in Tisbury

Sunday

May 14, 2017 at 5:50 PMMay 14, 2017 at 5:50 PM

Ethan Genter @EthanGenterCCT

OAK BLUFFS — The first commercial kelp growing season in the state is winding down and, with that, Greg and Dan Martino, the brothers behind Cottage City Oysters, sold their first batch of kelp to the Tisbury restaurant Beach Road.

Along with Stanley Larsen of Chilmark, Cottage City is one of two commercial kelp growers in Massachusetts. This year’s harvest came with a bit of a learning curve. The Martinos' kelp grows off lines that are about 6 feet down in the sometimes-turbulent waters of Vineyard Haven Harbor near Eastville Point Beach. Greg Martino said he thinks that the lines may have been a bit loose, causing some of the kelp to scrape against the sand. They also may have harvested the kelp a bit too late in the season, causing growth on some of the seaweed.

But he didn't seem too worried.

“Those are all things we are learning,” he said. “We’re definitely going to do it next year.”

Since 2012, Massachusetts has been involved in experimental seaweed growth, but with its decision to begin licensing growers, it has claimed a small stake of the fledgling U.S. portion of the commercial industry, which claims about $5.5 billion worldwide.

Greg Martino declined to say how much kelp was harvested and sold to Beach Road, but said that they gave the restaurant a small portion of their haul, which sold at $6 a pound.

“Randy was brave enough to take it,” Greg Martino said of Beach Road’s chef, Randy Rucker. The Martinos' sugar kelp is an opaque brown, with the blades growing between 1 and 2 feet long and about 6 inches wide.

“It really does taste of the ocean and its surrounding areas,” Rucker wrote in an email. “Knowing that this kelp is grown and harvested within viewing distance of my dining room is really rad. To me it's very dynamic in the sense it can be dried and served fresh."

Rucker, who grew up in the same part of Houston as the Martinos, said he has used kelp before in his dishes, but this is his first opportunity to use local seaweed for plates like tuna tartare and raw smooth conch.

“People seem to be really digging it,” Rucker wrote. “The folks on the Vineyard are very aware of their surroundings and local food movement. Honestly, I find that people love kelp and seaweed even if they don’t know they're enjoying it.”

Kelp sales are tracked by the state, but data is not being released since there are fewer than three harvesters and three dealers in the state, said Christopher Schillaci, an aquaculture and vibrio specialist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. With such a limited number of growers, the information would essentially disclose their income, he said.

As the Martino brothers are looking to perfect their growing techniques, the state is also crafting rules how to handle the new industry.

Currently kelp is being treated like oysters, and it is much easier for a grower to get started if they already have a place to grow oysters or other aquaculture, Martino said.

Photo Gallery: Serving kelp at Beach Road

“We’re pretty much good on kelp existing on aquaculture sites,” Schillaci said. “We are still in the process of developing the final policy and proposed regulations regarding kelp. Our goal is to have it all in place midsummer in time for the coming season.”

Experimental growing has been going on in the state for about six years, and there are a handful of noncommercial growers in Woods Hole and on the Vineyard. Jamie Bassett is attempting to do a standalone kelp project off Chatham, and recently won approval from local boards, but has not filed an application with the state.

The state is currently teaming up with other agencies in Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York to compare how kelp is handled in each state, Schillaci said

There have been no other commercial permit applications filed, Schillaci said, but several parties — including the schoolhouse on Cuttyhunk — are looking to either continue their existing work or get into research or experimental kelp projects, he said.

The Martino brothers hope that not only their kelp business will continue to grow, perhaps to include multiple harvests a year, but they also want the kelp industry expand across the state. The brothers have been contacted by people from as far away as Virginia to learn more about the winter crop.

“Kitchens across the nation are getting excited about seaweed,” Greg Martiono said. “We just want to see it happen.”